Poa glaucaVahl

glaucous bluegrass

WFO wfo-0000892407 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 5 observations

This species has been photographed under an open licence only 5 times, so some figures below are different views of the same plant, taken on the same day, rather than different individuals. They are usually different parts of it: the leaf, the flower, the bark.

Poa glauca, photographed by nina_nesterova
fig. a nina_nesterova, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-07-13 / obs. 143191850

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 90 botanical countries

Regions where Poa glauca is native: Morocco, Afghanistan, Altay, Amur, Buryatiya, China North-Central, China South-Central, Chita, Inner Mongolia, Iran, Irkutsk, Japan, Kamchatka, Kazakhstan, Khabarovsk, Kirgizstan, Korea, Krasnoyarsk, Magadan, Manchuria, Mongolia, North Caucasus, Primorye, Qinghai, Tadzhikistan, Taiwan, Tibet, Transcaucasus, Tuva, Uzbekistan, West Siberia, Xinjiang, Yakutiya, Nepal, Pakistan, West Himalaya, Austria, Czechia-Slovakia, East European Russia, Finland, Føroyar, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, Italy, North European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Spain, Svalbard, Sweden, Switzerland, Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Greenland, Idaho, Labrador, Maine, Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Québec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yukon MoroccoAfghanistanAltayAmurBuryatiyaChina North-CentralChina South-CentralChitaInner MongoliaIranIrkutskJapanKamchatkaKazakhstanKhabarovskKirgizstanKrasnoyarskMagadanManchuriaMongoliaNorth CaucasusPrimoryeQinghaiTadzhikistanTaiwanTibetTranscaucasusTuvaUzbekistanWest SiberiaXinjiangYakutiyaNepalPakistanWest HimalayaAustriaCzechia-SlovakiaEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceIcelandItalyNorth European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandSpainSvalbardSwedenSwitzerlandAlaskaAlbertaArizonaBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoGreenlandIdahoLabradorMaineManitobaMichiganMinnesotaMontanaNevadaNew BrunswickNew HampshireNew MexicoNew YorkNewfoundlandNorthwest TerritoriesNova ScotiaNunavutOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaQuébecSaskatchewanSouth DakotaUtahVermontWashingtonWisconsinWyomingYukon KoreaFøroyar
Native distribution of Poa glauca, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alaska ASK NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
Arizona ARI
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Greenland GNL
Idaho IDA
Labrador LAB
Maine MAI
Manitoba MAN
Michigan MIC
Minnesota MIN
Montana MNT
Nevada NEV
New Brunswick NBR
New Hampshire NWH
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
Newfoundland NFL
Northwest Territories NWT
Nova Scotia NSC
Nunavut NUN
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Québec QUE
Saskatchewan SAS
South Dakota SDA
Utah UTA
Vermont VER
Washington WAS
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Yukon YUK
Afghanistan AFG ASIA-TEMPERATE
Altay ALT
Amur AMU
Buryatiya BRY
China North-Central CHN
China South-Central CHC
Chita CTA
Inner Mongolia CHI
Iran IRN
Irkutsk IRK
Japan JAP
Kamchatka KAM
Kazakhstan KAZ
Khabarovsk KHA
Kirgizstan KGZ
Korea KOR
Krasnoyarsk KRA
Magadan MAG
Manchuria CHM
Mongolia MON
North Caucasus NCS
Primorye PRM
Qinghai CHQ
Tadzhikistan TZK
Taiwan TAI
Tibet CHT
Transcaucasus TCS
Tuva TVA
Uzbekistan UZB
West Siberia WSB
Xinjiang CHX
Yakutiya YAK
Austria AUT EUROPE
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
Føroyar FOR
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Iceland ICE
Italy ITA
North European Russia RUN
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Spain SPA
Svalbard SVA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Nepal NEP ASIA-TROPICAL
Pakistan PAK
West Himalaya WHM
Morocco MOR AFRICA

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 139 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -32.1 °C -20.5 °C -5.1 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 4.4 °C 15.5 °C 22.8 °C
Annual rainfall 241 mm 609 mm 1,751 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 25 mm 83 mm 272 mm

It is found where winters are arctic. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 139 research-grade observations of Poa glauca that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 104 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Catabrosa pauciflora (Hook.) Fr.
  • Colpodium pauciflorum Hook.
  • Deyeuxia hugoniana Rendle
  • Paneion glaucum (Vahl) Lunell
  • Poa altaica Trin.
  • Poa altaica f. subtilis Malyschev
  • Poa altaica var. elatior Trautv. & C.A.Mey.
  • Poa anadyrica Roshev.
  • Poa annua var. caesia (Sm.) Spreng.
  • Poa arctica var. altaica (Trin.) Regel
  • Poa arctostepporum Jurtzev & N.S.Prob.
  • Poa aspera Gaudin
  • Poa aspera var. laxiuscula Blytt
  • Poa aspera var. umbrosa Blytt
  • Poa badachschanica Ikonn.
  • Poa balfourii Parn.
  • Poa balfourii var. rigida Parn.
  • Poa blyttii Lindeb.
  • Poa bryophila Trin.
  • Poa caesia Sm.
  • Poa caesia f. elatior Andersson
  • Poa caesia f. macra Andersson
  • Poa caesia subsp. briquetii Hack.
  • Poa caesia subsp. glauca (Vahl) Hartm.

and 80 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.